Heartlands Academy Heartlines Newsletter Issue 2 Spring 2010

Heartlines Newsletter of Heartlands Academy

Issue 2, Spring Term 2010

World Maths Day is all over!

Congratulations on a New World Record!

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his year, we had our first ever World Maths Day on 3rd March and all Year 7 students were invited to take part.

A total of 1,133,246 students and 56,082 schools from 235 countries united to set a new world record by correctly answering 479,732,613 questions. Students played at

Creative Curriculum Week

home and at school against other students around the world in live games of mental arithmetic. The pupils all had great fun and congratulations to everyone who participated!

UKMT Maths Challenge

Congratulations to the group of selected Year 11 students who participated in Heartlands’ first Intermediate Maths Challenge on 4th February. These students attended weekly Maths sessions from the end of last term with great commitment and enthusiasm. Hirdepal Bawa Singh (11MRG) is commended for achieving Silver as well as Best in School certificate, whilst the Bronze awards went to Annie Sam (11AKI) and Yasin Ali (11BIK). The challenge involves answering 25 multiple choice questions in one hour and the top 40% of students receive a Gold, Silver or Bronze award. This places Hirdepal in the top 20% nationally.

Well done to everyone who participated and hopefully we can continue this success in future years.

Thank you to Jiaqi Shi who organised these events.

More pictures and reports inside

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From Mrs Jones, Principal It has been seven years since I came to Heartlands. Someone reminded me only last week, about the improvements, developments and changes that have taken place.

Sometimes, when you are involved in the daily issues of leading an organisation you can lose sight of this.

On a personal note, it continues to be a privilege to lead Heartlands, initially as a school and now as an Academy.

Everyone who works at Heartlands understands the challenges but more importantly the rewards it brings.

Our young people continue to benefit from a wealth of opportunities beyond their traditional learning experiences.

This second edition of Heartlines reflects these opportunities.

May I, again, take this opportunity of thanking you for your continued support and may I wish you all an enjoyable Spring holiday break.

As always, I can be contacted on 07880671915 if you have any queries.

Inside: Science Trips 2 PE report 3 International Days 4-5 LRC 6 Community Partnership 7 Future Dates & Events 8

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pace-themed activity days were held at the National Space Centre where students learnt to make rockets before trying them out by launching them outside. They investigated what makes a good rocket design and how to test their rockets. They also had the chance to investigate the 1969 moon landings and to analyse the evidence to decide whether or not it was faked by NASA. Following this, pupils looked at alien life and evidence of alien existence including making an ‘adapted’

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ROCKET TESTING

he Year 10 trip to Chester zoo gave pupils the chance to see some of the species of animals they had been discussing and learning about in science lessons in relation to conservation and endangered species.

In the morning, there was a walk around the zoo followed by Keeper talks about tropical birds and jaguars. The students fed the birds worms and asked intelligent questions about the jaguars. The extremely rare black jaguar can be found at Chester zoo! Afterwards, students observed the orang-utans (an endangered species) who were more than happy to show off to us!

In the afternoon, students attended a special lecture delivered by a conservation leader at the zoo. Here they learnt a great deal about conservation in real life contexts: issues associated with the Amazon rainforest deforestation and how, as tourists to many different parts of the world, we can help to minimise the damage caused

alien of their own. In another of the sessions pupils investigated different parts of the solar system to discover more about the other planets. This activity gave students an understanding of some of the work they had studied in their normal science lessons and to extend some of these concepts in a fun and practical way. Many pupils reported that they particularly liked the practical focus and the fact that they got to ‘do things we can’t normally do in lessons’.

D. Hare

to natural habitats and populations; how endangered animals affect communities and how to prevent animals destroying farms without killing the animals, such as burning chillies to deter elephants. They also looked at, and held examples of, products from endangered animals seized at customs and were amazed at how heavy the elephant tusks were and the length of the python skin seized.

Students reported that they particularly liked being able to see, in real life, the endangered species they had only seen in pictures before and how much more ‘real’ this made the issues seem.

J. Clegg & D. Hare

Return Visit

On Monday, 15th March, we welcomed two South African teachers from our partner school, Amakhwatha High School - Sharon Mchunu, Deputy Head and Veronica Thusini, head of science and maths.

They enjoyed three days at Heartlands Academy and our partnership schools. On Monday, they toured the academy and observed two PE lessons. In the afternoon they visited Cromwell Primary School, the POD and the Regeneration Project. On Tuesday, they met with the School Council who they thought were excellent and doing a fantastic job of representing the students of Heartlands Academy. In the afternoon, they had front row seats for the

PE W

e have been very successful REPORT throughout PE with our teams this year, with both the Years 8 & 10 football teams reaching the district semi-finals. Year 10 put on a brave fight against John Willmot but were sadly defeated in the final minutes, 3-2 (scorers: Aristote Kameno and Daniel Johnson). Year 8 narrowly lost to College High in extra time after a thrilling comeback from 0-3 down. The Year 9 team continue to succeed and are top of their league with two games left to play.

In curriculum week, all of Year 8 took part in a Form Competition day, where each form played each other in rounders matches and team games.

Elsewhere the Year 10 BTEC groups took part in a trip to Bath University where they competed in a variety of fitness tests and used equipment that is found only at universities or high performance teams.

Year 7 took part in a Basketball day run by Birmingham As basketball club. Here they learned new basketball skills and how diet and smoking can affect sports performance.

J. Lea

Trampolining

Having shown a great deal of commitment when attending the early morning training sessions, the girls’ trampolining squad has been able to enjoy recent success at the Aston School Trampolining Competition. All the girls performed very well, with Michelle and Lesidi Ncube winning the Year 7 and 11 categories respectively.

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Year 11 BTEC concert. They were beaming throughout the performance and were totally thrilled by the whole experience. On Wednesday and Thursday, Mrs K Smith and I accompanied our visitors to the British Council in London.

Here we took part in two planning days, the purpose of which was to explore how we can get more young leaders in our schools. We managed to put together a three year plan which both schools are going to work towards.

Our visitors had a wonderful experience at Heartlands and told us that we should be really proud of what we have achieved. They felt that Heartlands is a very special place and they can’t wait to share their experience with the rest of our friends in South Africa.

Mr S Vyakaranum gratitude and enjoyment.

Cricket leadership has also proved to be a big success, with twenty pupils from Years 9 and 10 passing the course with flying colours! They are aiming to use the skills gained to help the local primary school children improve their skills.

Three Year 9 pupils have gained the Badminton Helpers’ award, with two entering and performing well in the Primary Badminton Festival.

Two Year 11 pupils have gained the Umpiring in Netball award and have used their skills during the Primary Netball Tournaments.

Netball

Aristote Kameno Y10 Girls’ Football The PE staff are committed to improving the quality of the girls’ football teams, with Miss Brown taking the lead and helping achieve a respectable run of results in the league.

The season is not yet over, and both the KS3 and KS4 teams will undoubtedly continue to impress.

Leadership Leadership has become a focussed area of PE this academic year, and many pupils have taken a great interest in it. The Year 10 sports leaders have shown a great deal of maturity and commitment in setting up a multi-skills club for St. Vincent’s Primary School, and the primary pupils have shown enormous

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Netball’s profile has been steadily increasing over the past two years, and the Year 11 team performed very well in this year’s Birmingham County Schools’ Tournament. The under 13s team are beginning to show a lot of promise and commitment, coming fourth in the same tournament. Both teams are also involved in the Aston Schools’ League and are currently doing very well.

Rowing As a school sport, rowing has enjoyed a good deal of success this year. Having participated in the Birmingham Rowing Championships, the Year 7 boys’ team came 3rd, Jordell Duequensey of Year 7 came 2nd in the individual category, and the Year 9 girls’ team came first! Congratulations to all those who competed.

V. Allen

s y a D l a n o i t Interna Years 7 & 8 GLOBAL COOK! GLOBAL COOK! GLOBAL COOK!

pepper salsa, African meat pie and jollof rice. Year 8 had the opportunity to make the following: stuffed red pepper from a Mediterranean recipe, tabbouley from Morocco, Greek island salad with chicken and avocado, pad thai from Thailand, Jamaican jerk chicken, and cookies. The emphasis was to allow pupils to cook in a friendly, fun and enjoyable environment and to experience many new and unfamiliar foods. Pupils also acquired more food preparation and cooking skills, knowledge of healthier options, food presentation and food hygiene and safety. Apart from what is mentioned above, during the session, pupils developed self-esteem and confidence of food preparation.

The pupils really enjoyed the sessions; we hope to have other opportunities in the future when pupils can be proud of what they have made.

Yemisi Lawal

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Gregory Vignal BCFC

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s part of Creative Curriculum Week, the languages department organised two International Days, one for Year 7 and one for Year 8. There was a fabulous range of activities spread over the two days, which allowed students the opportunity to experience aspects of other cultures around the world. Some learnt how to do African dance moves, while others had a go at Brazilian samba drumming. There was cooking from around the globe, in the International Recipes workshop, as well as art workshops, Chinese calligraphy and the peaceful art of Tai Chi. More reflective activities included recording a radio programme about global warming, planning a micro-business venture, and designing international flags. We worked with departments across the school to make this happen, and it was a true celebration of a creative curriculum.

floor of course! Then it was time to taste the food. Some students enjoyed it so much that they ended up eating ten or more snails! Finally, students ordered their lunch – in French, naturally – and we ate a delicious meal together. It was a fantastic cultural experience, trying out new tastes and having a lot of fun.

s part of the International Days, pupils were given the opportunity to prepare delectable dishes from around the world, such as spicy poached pear from China, bara brith from Wales, knock out bread from Italy, snicker doodles from North America, Caribbean red

FRENCH FOOTBALL FRENZY

How often do you get the chance to try out your French on someone new? And how often is that person a professional footballer? Year 8 students were lucky enough to get that chance when Birmingham City midfielder Gregory Vignal came in for a visit. They interviewed him using questions they had practised beforehand, and found him to be very patient and willing to understand any little mistakes with pronunciation. It was a great opportunity to see how far they had come – many of the interviewers had only started learning French in September. After the interview Gregory Vignal was happy to give his autograph to star-struck students (and teachers!) as well as having lots of photos taken.

MFL

LA BASTILLE RESTAURANT

“Anyone want some more frogs’ legs?” Twenty Year 8 students plucked up the courage to try frogs’ legs, snails, mussels and crêpes when they went on a trip to La Bastille Restaurant with the Languages Department. We watched a demonstration of how the dishes were prepared, and tried some pancake flipping – one or two pancakes ended up on the

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Year 9 - Options Day

Parent/Community News

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reative Learning week for Year 9 kicked off with a fantastic day at Aston Villa football ground. In the morning over twenty employers from various industries came in and talked to pupils about their careers.

Some of these companies included West Midlands Fire Service, Price Waterhouse Cooper, Birmingham University, Autism West Midlands, Access to Music, the NHS, Scientists from Cancer UK and EEF Engineering. In the afternoon, pupils and parents listened to presentations about subjects Our s tuden they could choose for their GCSE options and they took ts lea part in a workshop exploring how to best choose their rn ab out subjects. A great day was had by all. caree rs in m B. Patel

usic

London

- cancer research

- wiring with engineering company EEF Ltd.

The Trips All of Year 9 attended a trip to the amazing Natural History Museum and the Science Museum in London. Both museums definitely had the wow factor as pupils were amazed by the exhibitions they visited.

their own robots. Our students worked on an LJ Technical Systems Industrial Control module, where they learnt how to program a robotic arm. and the World of Enterprise

Business Enterprise Day All of Year 9 took part in a lively Business Enterprise Day at the Aston Villa ground. A controlled competitive environment was created for pupils to work in and, as a result, pupils developed an understanding of the world of work as well as team working skills, communication skills and problem solving.

Birmingham City University

LJ Technical Systems Industrial Control module

Jaguar/Landrover

Twenty-five Year 9 students went to BCU and learnt all about university life. The day consisted of: informative quizzes, a tour of the campus, facilities and student accommodation, a fantastic lunch from the lovely bistro, and a chat with current students.

B. Patel

During an industry visit to the Jaguar factory at Castle Bromwich, forty students learnt about Robotics. They had a tour of the factory and saw many robots in use assembling parts for the new Jaguar car. Pupils also witnessed robots moving components, gluing aluminium panels, riveting car panels and welding.

Some pupils worked in the Education Centre where they were able to control

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Visits to Aston University Would you like to visit Aston University to find out about future opportunities for your children? Would you like a tour of their facilities? Dates arranged are: 29th April and 18th May from 10:00am til12:00 mid-day.

Transport will be provided by mini-bus departing from Heartlands Academy.

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atch out because Heartlands Reading Champions are about. A group of students in Years 7, 8 and 9 have joined together to promote reading at Heartlands. Our three groups meet up twice a month during tutor time creating fun activities to encourage other students, in their year group, to read. Schemes they have in mind are: creating your own comic strip - ‘A Horrid Henry Day’ and a competition for pupils to submit a photograph of the most unusual place to read. Keep watching for more information.

Bloomsbury Book Review

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ast term a select number of Year 7 and 8 students took part in a book review held by Bloomsbury Library. A librarian from Bloomsbury Library visited bringing several newly released books so he could ask pupils their opinions about the best books to purchase for the public library. Students who took part were: Amin Hussain, Huma and Husna Shazadi, Faisal Shah, Ramaiz, Hassan, Sahra Abdirahman, Nosheen Kousar, Daanyaal Mazhar, Ameera Zair and Zara Akhtar.

Would you like to enrol on a volunteer programme?

We are looking for women from different communities to enrol on our programme delivered in partnership with the Wardlow Centre. Women will be given full training to gain a qualification in Childcare, Customer Service and Information Advice and Guidance. Please contact Rachel Buckingham for more details.

Adult Education Classes In partnership with Adult Education we will be delivering ICT and primary transition classes. Please contact Rachel Buckingham if you would like to enrol.

Other venues working in partnership with the community: The POD Nechells offers a variety of services for adults, 0121 675 4280 Nechells Regeneration Centre offers childcare and adult education 0121 328 1759 Bloomsbury Children’s Centre offers support for new mothers and family information services, 0121 464 2034 Wardlow Centre Community women’s project coordinator, 0121 464 3546.

Community Primary Transition

Do you Have a brother or sister in Year 6?

Are they coming to Heartlands Academy in September 2010? Here are some exciting events to share with them:

June - Transition Project All children joining Heartlands Academy will be invited to attend the Heartlands Academy transition project. The project will be delivered every Wednesday throughout the month of June and the first week in July. Children will attend the Heartlands Academy just like a normal school day.

Each young person will have a timetable of lessons during which time they will meet extended services providers from across the city. Providers include travel safety teams, environmental officers and other key partners who provide information about moving to a new school.

GCSE Cookery Work Experience

Students from Year 11 studying GCSE cookery, attended the training kitchen at the Regeneration Centre. The students gained an understanding of applying good food safety practices when storing, preparing and cooking food.

The Students would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Ann Stanton, the manager of the Regeneration Centre, and Kerry Madden, the catering manager, for providing them with the skills and knowledge to apply for college courses and work placements. Two of the students that attended were offered voluntary placements during the summer holidays.

March 2010 - Virtual Transition Transition mentors from Heartlands Academy will go live on the transition website to chat to year six children and help them find out about Heartlands Academy.

Mentors will be from year seven.

May Half Term Creative Transition Holiday School In partnership with the Extended Services and the EAZ, Heartlands Academy will be inviting children who start in year 7 September 2010, to attend a pre-summer Academy club. The four day project will involve creative curriculum project coordinators Artiseducation. They will deliver transitional skills that include social and emotional awareness of change, independent learning, team-work and communication.

parent visits to Aston University. Parents were also invited to the Year 6 transition evening on 25th March. Heartlands Cluster Parent Support Advisor, Extended Services Coordinator and Adult Education were present to provide information during the evening.

Mrs Buckingham and Mrs Bailey Green were also available to offer guidance and support during the coming months.

Anti Bullying Conference

Year 7 students attended an anti-bullying conference on 16th March and were invited to present a pre-recorded DVD they had produced about cyber bullying.

Professionals attended from across the city and held informal discussions with the students about what happens when a young person is cyber bullied.

Bloomsbury Children’s Centre

Students attended Bloomsbury Children’s Centre as part of their Health and Social Care Work Experience. The students visited children in the nursery then met with staff to talk about the services they offer the community. All students gained a good understanding of adult roles and responsibilities by working with children and families. Some of the students requested work placements during their work experience week in July.

The students would like to say a huge thank you to the staff at Bloomsbury Children’s Centre. There were very positive comments from the students after the visit and a greater understanding of career pathways in the Health and Social Care profession.

If you would like information about: • primary school transition

Year Six Transition Coffee Morning

Parents of Year 6 were invited to Heartlands Academy to talk about their children moving to secondary school. The parents were given information about Heartlands Academy, Heartlands Transition Project and holiday schools for students attending Heartlands Academy in 2010. It was a very successful morning. Many of the parents signed up for parent workshops and our

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• Heartlands Academy events • parenting support programmes • community partnership work

contact: Mrs Rachel Buckingham Community Director

Heartlands Academy Great Francis Street, Birmingham B7 4QR 0121 464 5531 r.buckingham@heartlands-academy.org.uk

Date for your Diary!

Don’t miss Heartlands Academy’s first ever musical!

The Wizard of Oz on 7th and 8th July

after School Club

• Do boys and girls think differently?

• Did life on Earth begin on Earth?

look out for further details

• How do they make the holes in crumpets?

l o ve l y o w t Our ys Do ro t h Deanna Earp

Café Sci

Coming next term.

Keep your eyes open for the posters letting you know where and when.

SPOTLIGHT | update

Tamiah Forbes March 2010

Working together for safety | Heartlands Academy students in front of (left to right) Cassius Francis from CSEC, Sophie Wood from NCB and school co-ordinator, .

Sheryl Richards).

Heartlands Academy raised £241 for Sport Relief 2010

Academy Dates 2010 Easter Break Friday, 2 April - Sunday, 18 April

Summer Term Monday, 19 April (teacher day) Tuesday, 20 April - Friday, 23 July Half term break Monday, 31 May - Friday, 4 June Teacher Days (non-pupil days) Monday, 19 April Monday, 5 July

Future Events

Summer Term 2010 Thurs, 13 May Wed, 30 June Thurs, 1 July Wed & Thurs, 7 & 8 July Tues, 13 July Thurs, 15 July Wed, 21 July

Graduation Evening Y10 Parents’ Evening Y11 Prom night Summer Production Y8 Parents’ Evening Y7 Parents’ Evening Sports Day

Child safety: be part of the change!

The Child Safety Education Why CSEC? Rescue Service,See Birmingham Want to know more?

Devante Coalition (CSEC) is a group Youth Service (Ellen Gee Narrow Too many children and young The Child Safety Education Coalition Benjamin Year goNational to the CSEC of organisations working Boat),10 the or Royal Lifeboat people are having their lives Institution Birmingham City together to promote practical cut short or severely affected (CSEC) is a group of organisations website which is aand fantastic resource, Council’s road safety team. education to help children by unintended injuries. In fact, working together promoteunintended practical with about thepresented five types The students recently and young people to protect injuries are the information their ideas to aand conference themselves from unintended leading cause of death education to help children and young ofandunintended inury howof you international delegates. It was injury – the leading cause serious injury in 0-19 year olds. people protect themselves from help reduce It also great to these. hear that one of the has of death affecting their age CSEC is working tocan reduce students, Devante, saw his part group – reports CASSIUS the number of five about unintended injury - the leading causeand severity details how to become involvement as directly relevant FRANCIS, CSEC Co-ordinator. main types of unintended injury: of death affecting of CSEC, including a downloadable to his ambitions.

“Most people Organisations fromtheir across age group.

• Road traffic injuries would not have this opportunity the West Midlands have joined membership form.

• Drowning on their CVs,” he said. “This will CSEC and they would very • Poisoning

help with my future career much like to hear from others www.csec.org.uk •• Child Safety Week, June 21st of- asthe 25th Burns and scalds a police officer because interested in membership. Joining

together brings opportunities to deepen the pool of shared knowledge and take expertise and services to a wider audience.

Membership of the Coalition is free and open to organisations whose work relates to children and young people and who have, or could have, an interest in injury prevention through Thursday 1steducation.

July Becoming a member of CSEC will allow you to:

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at meetings • Attend national

• Network withHotel other providers Novotel

• 70 Contribute policy development Broadto Street • Receive a termly e-bulletin Birmingham to keep you up-to-date with news and events

6.30pm - 11.00pm • Use the ‘Member of CSEC’ logo • Have access to our team of specialist co-ordinators who Dress Code can offer advice, including Smart ~ Formal on the creation, delivery and review of resources.

A Night Not to be Missed

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• Trips and falls.

skills that I am developing, like leadership skills, communication and teamwork, and because a lot of my career will focus on safety.”

Year 11 Prom 2010

How does CSEC work?

I’m part of a team of CSEC co-ordinators partnering with organisations across England to develop practical safety education projects. I specialise in working with teenagers to develop everyday activities which help them learn about risks and how to cope with them and thereby develop lifelong skills to keep themselves and others safe.

For example, I’m currently working with a group of year 10 students (14-15 year olds) at Heartlands Academy in Nechells.

The students are developing a project called Have Fun, Be Safe, culminating in the delivery of a programme in Child Safety Week from June 21-27. Current partners supporting the students include West Midlands Fire and

Want to know more?

The CSEC website is a fantastic resource, with information about the five types of unintended injury and how you can help reduce these. It also has details about how you can become part of CSEC, including a downloadable membership form.

Further details will be followupX CSEC sent Cassius out0121toFrancis, parents of 248 2025 cfrancis@csec.org.uk Year 11www.csec.org.uk next term ## 07

Heartlands Academy, Great Francis Street, Birmingham, B7 4QR Telephone: 0121 464 3931 • www.heartlands-academy.org.uk